Unsettling Dreams
by Satin Ragdoll
Summary: Spock dreams of the writer.


Unsettling Dreams

by Satin Ragdoll

Spock dreams...

He is standing in a glade, under earth-blue skies. Something catches his eye; a shadow on the ground, and he looks up. At first he sees nothing but a few cummulus clouds, but then his eyes catch movement. An avian form in the sky is circling down towards him, lower and lower and lower. Spock puts his arm out, and a white barn owl lands upon it, wings fluttering. The bird has a single, perfect, pink rose in it's beak. Spock wordlessly holds out his hand, and the owl gently places it in his palm. It regards him out of shining black eyes, far darker than his own.

Spock wakes.

oOo

It is after his shift, and Spock sits quietly before his firepot, meditating. He was unsettled. Normally Vulcans rarely dream, and last night had been the third time he had that dream in a week. Even after much meditation, he could not find the meaning of it. He could only assume that the meaning would come clear in time, or that the dream would change and evolve.

oOo

Spock dreams...

He is in the same glade, but this time there is a difference. A park bench sits over to one side, and a woman of indeterminate age is sitting on it. She has thick, dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, big blue eyes, fair skin, and a body that is all soft curves. She smiles shyly at him, "Hello, Mr. Spock."

Spock quirks a brow. He has never met this person, yet she has a certain vague...familiarity. "Do I know you?"

She shakes her head, "No, you do not know me. I, however, know you."

Spock lowers his eyes and nods in a gesture of acknowledgement. As First Officer of the Enterprise, he had gained some noteriety. However, he senses that is not quite what she means. He tilts his head at her, "Then you have me at a disadvantage."

The woman tilts her head back at him, "You may call me Dolly. It is not my true name, but here it is sufficient."

Spock puts up his hand in the Vulcan salute, "Live long and prosper, Dolly."

She returns the salute, "Peace and long life, Mr. Spock."

Spock looked at the glen around them, "Dolly, do you know where we are?"

Dolly, who others knew as Satin Ragdoll, nodded, "We're dreaming, Spock. At least I am."

Spock picked a leaf from a tree and examined it. This was far more vivid than any dream he had ever had, including the one of Chapel from his pon-farr. That had been extremely vivid. He quirked his brow at Dolly, again, "How do you know?"

She grinned at him, "Because you're here! You're not real, you know." She shrugged, "Well, at least not in my reality."

oOo

Spock sat down next to her, "If I am not real then what am I?"

Dolly smiled a little, "A fictional character, a much beloved one. One that's been in a television show, movies, books and stories." She blushed, "Including some of my own."

Spock raised a brow, face set in disapproving lines, "You have been interfering in my reality?"

Dolly shrugged, "I'm not sure, Mr. Spock. Did someone prank Janice Rand and dye her hair blue?"

Spock nodded, "They did."

Dolly nodded in return, "Do you know the women Lisa, Elaine and Adrianna?"

Spock's brows drew down, "I know them. Lisa is my assistant."

Dolly sighed, "Good! Much later they're going to have something important to say to you. Listen."

Spock blinked at her. Dolly grinned delightedly to have surprised him. His voice was just a tad higher pitched when he queried, "Are you implying that they are just characters as well?"

Dolly laughed, "Mr. Spock, _everyone _you know is just a character! Those three, however, are _my _characters!"

Spock was intensely curious, "Why did you create them?"

Dolly's voice went down to a whisper, "Because I wanted to _fix _things! I couldn't _stand _what canon did! It was awful!"

Spock's brows drew down again, "'Canon'? Is that a name?"

Dolly shook her head, "No. That's the official storyline."

oOo

Spock sat thinking a minute, "What else should I be expecting?"

Dolly blew out a breath, "I'm not certain, Mr. Spock. I've...sent you several different directions. I don't know which, if any, will affect your reality."

Spock pinned her with his eyes, "What _may _I be expecting?"

Dolly blushed, "You end up with my character. Or you end up bonding with Christine."

Spock's lips thinned a little, "Christine Chapel."

Dolly blushed even harder and turned her head away, "Or you end up with Janice Rand."

Spock didn't say anything for a minute, and when Dolly turned around he was giving her Vulcan stone-face, "Why did you not give me a Vulcan woman, instead?"

Dolly scowled, "There have been many writers who've done so. There _is_ a Vulcan woman in your future, and things end very, very badly! That's not my work, that's canon. Vulcan women and you don't mix very well, Spock. I could have, but to be honest, a Vulcan woman would just not be good for you."

His lips thinned again, "You do not have the right to assume what is best for me, Dolly."

oOo

Dolly rounded on him, getting into his face, "Listen here, Mr. Spock! You are my favorite character, and I've been good to you. I'm _trying _to look out for you! Until now these have just been stories, and I'm not the only writer out there. You should have _seen _some of the stories I've read! You haven't been severly injured, or tortured, or raped! You haven't been left in the Mirror Universe. You haven't switched bodies with anyone, been turned into a child, been turned into an animal, been turned into a woman, or gotten pregnant! You haven't lost a wife or a child! I've read all these things! And you don't even _want_ to know what slash is!"

Spock tilted his head and his eyes drew down, "Something associated with knives or severe injury?"

Dolly's lips tightened and she crooked her finger at him. Spock bent down and she whispered in his ear.

When he pulled back up, he was greener than usual, "Dolly, the Captain, McCoy and I are just friends. I consider them my brothers."

Dolly nodded, "_I _know that, Spock. _I _don't write slash. That's the point!"

Her eyes went wide, "Uh, oh! I'm starting to wake up. It was a pleasure meeting you, even if it was just a dream. Remember the words of Edgar Allen Poe, 'All that we see or seem, is just a dream within a dream'. 'Bye!" And with that, she winked out.

Spock wakes.

oOo

Spock blinks up into the darkness of his room. It certainly seems to be real. He will have to meditate on the nature of reality later. Now, whether this is somebody else's fiction or not, he still has to get ready for his shift. This is still his ship, Jim is still his Captain, and he still has duties to perform.

Fin.


End file.
